My Coaching Philosophy :
My mission is to help swimmers learn and grow as individuals and as athletes
I am passionate about learning and I firmly believe in quality over quantity. I think that the most important thing a swimmer can do to ensure success in the sport, is to learn the proper stroke technique. I believe that swimming is based around fundamental skills related to body position and awareness and it is my goal to help my swimmers develop the skills that will help them become efficient in the water.
I believe that an efficient stroke and proper body position will take you farther than a great deal of yardage. I want my swimmers to practice swimming correctly. Bad technique form habits that can lead to injury. Speed will come as they grow and learn.
I believe in teachable moments and I will employ any methods to help a swimmer learn the proper technique. If silly a dance, a goofy rhyme, or any one of my “swimming toys” will make an impact I am willing to try.
I believe that swimmers need multiple exposures to a concept in order to achieve mastery. I understand that children are constantly growing and changing. I will not give up on my swimmers. I believe in presenting information/concepts in multiple ways so that all my swimmers can understand. It may be the 1001 time that I remind a swimmer of technique that the swimmer catches on.
I believe in flexible grouping. I base my workouts on the needs of the swimmers. Therefore I like to group swimmers according to their needs. I can then differentiate my workouts to address the areas of weakness and strengths of the swimmers. In these smaller groups the other coaches and I can provide more personalized attention.
I believe that a swimmer is only as good as his/her support system. Parents play a critical role in a swimmer’s success. I believe that the parent should be the child’s biggest fan. One word of support will mean more to a swimmer than any lecture a coach can give. I believe the parent plays a critical role in what a swimmer believes about themselves and about their swimming ability and can play a major role in the swimmers success and attitude towards swimming. I believe that parent should be the child’s loudest cheerleader and a source of constant support for their swimmer
I believe that it is my responsibility to provide an environment where my swimmers feel safe to try new things, safe to feel receive positive corrective feedback, and feel supported in their efforts. I want my swimmers to feel as though they are valuable members of team. I want my swimmers to feel success and develop a willingness and enthusiasm for challenging themselves. It is my responsibility to develop a sense of teamwork and responsibility. It is my responsibility to cultivate my swimmers not only as athletes but as individuals.
It is my responsibility to provide effective & original swimming instruction to my swimmers. It is my goal to provide children with the building blocks and scaffolding they need to swim effectively. I want my swimmers to have a firm foundation in the fundamentals of proper stroke technique so that they can build speed as they grow; I want my swimmers to achieve longevity in the sport without concern for injury caused by poor stroke technique. I believe it is my responsibility to do everything in my power to develop perfect strokes.
I believe it is my responsibility to be a lifelong learner. I never want to become a static coach. I must grow and change with my swimmers and change my techniques and methods to meet their needs. I want to continue to improve myself as a coach so that I can provide my swimmers with the best instruction possible
Finally I believe in fun. Swimming is a great sport and sometimes silliness is needed. I want my swimmers to enjoy swimming. I want them to be motivated to swim because of a love of the sport. The swimmers, who have fun, are the swimmers who experience success. Swimmers who have fun are intrinsically motivated and are willing to work hard to achieve their goals. I want my swimmers to love swimming as much as I do.
